Spinning Off Axis
by Ceyrai
Summary: RyoSaku. Ryoma makes Momo's gods of dating scream blasphemy, and Sakuno, as always, is the long-suffering victim of the chaos that ensues.


**Ceyrai Says: **This is by no means my first fanfic (I came back from the dead, don't ask). It's not my first RyoSaku fanfic either - _that_ one was, if I may say so, knock-your-socks-off AWESOME but the stupid author did _not_ have a backup file of it when she had her laptop reformatted summer of 2008. So there.

So, let's pretend this is my first RyoSaku fanfic! R&R pls!11!one! (Heh. R&R. Rest and relaxation? Pffft. This is one aspect of some authors I really find amusing - putting R&R at the summaries. Do I sound elitist or _what_?)

I was daydreaming while taking a bath, and somehow, I managed to create a complete story. I hope you guys enjoy!

**Notes:**_  
Pair: _RyoSaku_  
Universe: _Canon, future-fic_  
Warnings:_ Ryoma being a general prick as usual? XD Other than that, none._  
Rip-offs: _None._  
Disclaimer: _I don't own TeniPuri, _Eternally_ by Utada Hikaru, _Chemicals React _by Aly & AJ, and Tokyo Disneyland.

_Additional Notes: _For those who aren't aware, school starts in April and ends March in Japan, with breaks in between. I'm not sure when in March, but let's pretend it's somewhere mid-March. Also, for the song of the last dance, I recommend listening to _Eternally (Drama Mix)_ by Utada Hikaru. It's my current favorite of her songs, and it really fits the scene. No, I don't just recommend listening to it. I ORDER you to!

* * *

**Spinning Off-Axis**_  
but it was just so much easier to blame ryoma_

_

* * *

_

The school year-end festival had come to a close. All in all, it had been an enjoyable day, the cool-but-not-quite, late February weather being just right for the many activities the individual class and club booths provided, and capped off with a few slow songs for couples to dance to. It was a wonderful close to a wonderful celebration.

And she, Sakuno, might have enjoyed it more, she supposed, had she not spent the entire day avoiding Ryoma.

"_I'm going back to the US next week._"

As Sakuno sat in the dark and empty classroom, looking down at the courtyard and watching the festivities, the unnerving silence only made her think of Ryoma's fateful words that morning. She wished she could un-think them, but the more she tried to un-think it, the more it came back to her.

She fancied herself an expert in un-thinking, but all her expertise in absolutely anything seemed to vanish when it came to handling the one Echizen Ryoma.

_"Pass. I'm going back to the US next week._"

_Arrgh, stop thinking it!_

It was supposed to be the time of her life. She was supposed to culminate her first year in high school with something much more than sulking in an empty classroom. She _deserved_ it, dammit, after all the work she put in to help make it happen!

But Ryoma, oh, _Ryoma_ had to ruin her day by saying those words. All the male Regulars had gathered at the male tennis club booth, making plans for the seniors' graduation get-together, and Sakuno (who was finally, _finally _putting her wobbly hips to very good use in tennis), working happily next door at the female tennis club booth making tennis-ball omusubi, had heard snatches of their conversation.

"_Let's go hiking in Mount Fuji_."

"_No, no, it's Tokyo Disneyland for us, nya!_"

"_I don't think I've got that kind of money at the moment…_"

"_Then let's just pig out at your place, Kawamura-senpai!_"

"_All you think about is food, baka._"

"_What'd you say, mamushi!?_"

"_What do you think, Echizen?_" Oishi's voice was clear above the din.

"_Pass. I'm going back to the US next week._"

A shocked silence.

At that moment, Sakuno had felt as though the world had stopped spinning on its axis. Her grip on the rice pot she had been lifting slacked, and the pot had fallen, shattering the silence.

Her memory was hazy afterwards - she could only vaguely remember apologizing profusely for spilling the rice in the pot and running to get cleaning utensils, but now that she thought back on it, she had run away to avoid hearing the rest of the conversation.

Because she knew that hearing the details would only send her deeper into depression.

After that, she had spent the rest of the day avoiding Ryoma, and he didn't seem to care she was trying to disappear. She saw him once or twice looking in her general direction, but she didn't stop to look if he cared that she was (or wasn't) there and tried to find a way to disappear. Because really, what good would caring do her? It wasn't very wise to entertain false hope.

_Right?_

In any case, she was upset and it was all Ryoma's fault. If he hadn't been so nice to her when he came back from the US earlier that year, if he hadn't started walking her to and from school (she could remember the exact date - May 6th, a Tuesday, at about thirty-three minutes past 6 in the evening - _no she wasn't obsessed!_), if he hadn't started appreciating her presence _just a little_, maybe she wouldn't be sitting in the dark complaining about the niceness and the mixed signals and the pseudo-romantic vibes and the fact that _he was leaving but didn't bother to give her a fair warning not to expect anything._

Or maybe she was just reading too much into things.

_Maybe I'm just thinking too much._

But it was so much easier to blame Ryoma in any case, rather than stew in hurt and self-pity.

"_I'm going back to the US next week_."

"ARGH!"

"Are all girls this creepy-crazy?"

It wasn't the best pick-up line. In fact, it might have ranked in the Top 10 Things To Say To Get You Mauled By A Girl. Momo's gods of dating would scream blasphemy.

But that was what made Ryoma, well, Echizen Ryoma.

The bluntness, the rudeness, the arrogance-

"Honestly," he continued nonchalantly, his hands in his pockets, sounding vaguely amused. "I've never seen so much change in expression on one face in thirty seconds." Pause. "Without acting," he added as an afterthought.

-_this _was the guy she was going to cry herself to sleep for!?

"R-r-ryoma-kun…"

(Sakuno had a sudden mental image of an Inner Sakuno tugging hard at Outer Sakuno's braids. _Is that all you've got to say!?_)

He looked slightly irritated, she noted as he came closer, but couldn't figure out whether or not the irritation had been there even before he came in. Because figuring that out required more thinking, and right then, her brain was going in circles as wobbly as her hips.

"You've been avoiding me."

_He… noticed?_

"Gmmnnnggrrggh," was all that came out of her throat.

"Nicely put."

He glared at her. She could feel her bottom lip twitching.

"_Well_?" he demanded.

"W-w-w-w-we-e-e-ell w-w-wha-a-a-at?"

Surely she was the only person in the world who could stammer individual syllables that much. Had some kind of record been broken?

(_A record _broken… _A _record_ broken… get it? Oh no… why am I thinking of such lame jokes at a time like this!?_)

"Aren't you going to explain yourself?"

Three.

Eyes widened.

Two.

Lips quivered.

One.

_Cue waterworks._

"Because… Because! You, you are, a-and then, but I nnngghh a-and y-you, and me, b-because y-you're, and nnngghh-"

She couldn't even make sense. At least when she had been stammering, she had voiced out a complete thought.

As expected, Ryoma looked utterly perplexed. "_What?_"

(Looking back on the situation hours later, Sakuno would pity Ryoma. Not only was the boy being subject to her mindless spluttering, but said boy probably had no idea how to deal with female tears.)

"You're leaving!" she burst out. "You're leaving again, and you probably will never come back, not until we graduate anyway, and you'll never be with us when we go karaoke or when the guys eat the bentos Tomo-chan and I make or when we pass the college exams or when you're supposed to be Buchou or when we win in the Nationals! The _female_ Nationals! You're leaving, and you didn't even bother to tell us until it was brought up by someone else! You're leaving! You're leaving, and I'm scared of having to say goodbye all over again because you leaving would seem so final and it _wouldn't even matter_ because you won't care that I'm saying goodbye!"

Her sobs were making her voice quake every few words or so, and wracked her body rather violently. She took a few breaths to steady herself. "You're leaving," she said in a quieter sob, "and I'm scared to say goodbye because… I don't want my last memory of you… to be you ignoring me… You're… leaving… and I don't… I don't want that…"

A long silence followed, only broken by the sobs she was trying to stop but couldn't.

In the back of her mind, she knew that Ryoma wouldn't really ignore her goodbye, but during weak moments, the old insecurities that plagued her when she was in middle school all came rushing back. Dealing with Ryoma was tiring and made her feel worthless.

"Hn. Idiot."

_Case in point._

"I'm leaving, and you just want to forget about me altogether. Is that it?"

"N-no! That's not what I-"

"No? It certainly seems that way."

Sakuno didn't know how it seemed or anything, but it really would have been less painful to just forget everything that happened between them. In any case, it surely didn't mean anything to him, so it shouldn't mean anything to her either, right?

The silence between them was heavy, even heavier because Ryoma seemed to be taking up her breathing space. Dimly, she could hear the DJ telling everyone that the last song was coming up. Distantly, she could hear the slow, heart-wrenching piano intro of _Eternally_ (_Kya! Utada Hikaru!_ a voice in her head squealed, completely detached from the current events) far below in the school courtyard.

And vaguely, she could feel Ryoma stepping even closer, so that the vagueness of it was wearing off and she could _clearly_ say that Ryoma was definitely close.

A lot close. Inches close. _Putting-her-hands-on-his-shoulders-and-his-hands-on-her-waist close._

"Go ahead and forget, then. I dunno about you, but I'd rather make memories than try to forget any."

His face was still as stoic as ever, and he wasn't even blushing.

But then again, his gaze was a little unsure. _And boy are his ears flaming._

"I…"

She looked up at him, and their eyes met.

_"I wanna be  
Here eternally…"_

She decided then that she still hated goodbyes, and there certainly won't be anything more than this. Ryoma wasn't the type to suddenly proclaim love, and everything wasn't going to be hearts and roses after this.

But she'd take what she could get. In any case, this was Ryoma. And it was _this_ Ryoma that she fell in love with.

And it was this Ryoma that she was having that slow last dance with, revolving unhurriedly on the linoleum floor, hidden away in the dark classroom two floors above where normal happy couples were dancing.

She pressed her forehead to his shoulder. She may have wasted a day to spend with him, but this moment was more than enough to make up for it.

_"Zutto… eien ni…"

* * *

_

"_…wish you were here - the cherry blossoms are in full bloom again, and the ones in the park are the most beautiful. Come visit, okay? With all my love, Sakuno._"

A deep blush. A furious repeated pressing of Delete.

"_Truly yours, Sakuno._"

A frown. Delete delete delete.

"_Missing you, Sakuno._"

Delete delete delete delete. A small "mou" of frustration.

"_Till next time, Sakuno._"

A resigned sigh. Always the same problem.

"_Send to: Echizen Ryoma._"

Send.

"There," Sakuno said, snapping her cellphone close. Her e-mail, obsessively-compulsively descriptive to the minutest detail, was off zooming through cyberspace and would arrive in less than a minute in Ryoma's inbox.

_I hope the reply's a little longer than "That's great, I'm practicing tennis, Karupin says hi" this time._

She looked up, admiring the flurry of pink petals in the park. April had come, and her second year of high school would commence in a couple of days. She was happy she could spend a peaceful, lazy day like this under the cherry blossoms, reminiscing.

The last few days she had spent with Ryoma, objectively speaking, were almost just like their normal school days, but somehow, there would be a moment or another that would be out of the ordinary. A significant look, an actual non-sarcastic compliment, an affectionate gesture… all that might have been disregarded if he hadn't been Ryoma. And she remembered every single one of them.

Of course, she had never gotten around telling Ryoma how she felt about him, but she thought that he probably had some kind of idea. He wasn't _that_ dense. She hoped.

Or maybe him being dense was a good thing. If he didn't feel the same way she did, that was. But if he did, then it would be great if he told her before she told him.

She had no idea when that would be, though. Or if it would even happen at all. At the very least, Ryoma didn't seem to be forgetting about her, so there was still hope.

_Maybe he'll come back for college._

_Then leave again before the second year starts. Is it really going to be a pattern!? Scary._

Sakuno snorted. She was ranting.

"That was a long rant."

And yet again, the earth stopped rotating, and time froze.

"It took me half the train ride to read it."

She knew that voice. But that voice was supposed to be far off in the US, telling American players "Mada mada dane" or whatever was the English equivalent of it – so how could she hear it…?

"And your hair's _still_ too long."

The world started spinning again, much too fast for her liking. She whipped around, tears brimming around her shocked eyes.

"That's your cue to say, mou, what does that have to do with anything."

And the clouds broke apart, a heavenly light shone, and angels sang.

All right, not really. But Echizen Ryoma was standing in front of her, looking as nonchalant as if he had never left.

A strangled sound left her throat, and she scrambled up to pull him into a fierce hug. "Ryoma-kun! You're…" she hiccupped, "you're back…!"

"'Course I am."

She held him at arm's length, searching his face excitedly. "You came back! Oh, everyone's going to be so happy! How long will you be staying?"

"Till graduation."

"…"

Blink.

"Wha-?"

Ryoma suddenly grinned very mischievously, so that Sakuno immediately regretted getting overly excited. There was something very off about that grin. "B-but… you were going back to the US," she said hesitantly. "Did you… change your mind?"

"My mind didn't need changing."

Sakuno could feel herself paling slightly. "W-what's going on…?"

"You, jumping to conclusions again."

Her mind was still piecing two and two together, the cogs and wheels in her still-stunned mind turning at a snail's pace.

"God you're _slow_." Ryoma sighed, raising his eyes heavenward in mock-exasperation. "Did you ever hear me say I wasn't ever coming back?"

_Did I ever… hear him… say…_

It clicked.

"WHAT!?"

Ryoma couldn't seem to stop grinning. "It was an invitational. I trained for one week, played the next. If you hadn't run away at that time I was explaining to the sempai-tachi, you would've known."

Sakuno's expression, on the other hand, was simply _priceless_. "S-so, the sempai-tachi knew you were coming back…?"

"Everyone did. The sempai-tachi, the trio, Osakada."

"And no one bothered to explain things to me?"

"I asked Osakada to tell everyone else not to."

Only Ryoma could frustrate her, then relieve her, then excite her, _then _infuriate her, all in the span of five minutes.

"_WHAT!?_"

Ryoma shrugged, looking every bit oblivious to the saying, _Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned. _"It was worth seeing Ryuuzaki all worked up like that," he said smugly. "How often do I see Ryuuzaki not being all calm and sweet like usual?"

If she had been quivering in sobs before, her shaking now had nothing to do with sadness.

_One more jab, Echizen, and I'll show you worked up._

"The waterworks were a little harder to deal with, though… but all in all, messing with you was even more fun than the invitational that I-IIIIIIIIYEEEEEEOOOOOOW!"

_Ryuuzaki Secret Technique: Great Dragon Claw!_

If there was one thing she had learned from her grandmother, it was that Echizens generally regretted mouthing off to Ryuuzakis when their fleshy cheeks were being bruised by strong Ryuuzaki pinches. And a very pissed Ryuuzaki Sakuno had both of Echizen Ryoma's cheeks between her surprisingly strong fingers.

Ryoma flayed around, yelling, while Sakuno kept her pincers tightly gripped. "You - will - _never_ - scare - me - like - that - again – do – you - _hear_!?" she hissed menacingly (yes, she could do menacing once in a while), punctuating ever word with a tug on Ryoma's abused cheeks.

"All _right_ already!" Ryoma protested. Sakuno finally had mercy on him and let go. He rubbed his sore face. "Geez, you don't have to get _that_ mad!"

"You haven't _seen_ mad, Echizen Ryoma," Sakuno grumbled. "You are _so_ buying yourself lunch the entire term."

It was Ryoma's turn to be incredulous. "What!?"

Sakuno stuck out her tongue defiantly, feeling unusually un-demure. He deserved more than an incredible cheek-pinching and a term of no bentos from her. After all the emotional loop-the-loops he had put her through, as a _prank _no less, he surely deserved a hell far worse than what she had already devised.

_But, then,_ Sakuno contemplated with a slight smile as they walked through the park, Ryoma looking for a dispenser with a cold Ponta can for his swollen cheeks, _we have time._

She had two entire years to punish him bit by bit. Two entire years of being in his pretentious, impolite, proud presence. Two entire years of tears and menacing hisses and grumbles.

And maybe, just maybe, a bit of laughter and love in between, that hopefully might extend beyond two years.

…

(_But there was STILL hell to pay._)

* * *

_"You make me feel out of my element__  
Like I'm walking on broken glass  
__Like the world's spinning in slow motion  
And we're moving too fast…"_  
- Chemicals React by Aly & AJ

* * *

**Ceyrai Says: **Did you get the "broken record" joke? Eheh. …yeah. It was awful, I know.

I don't want to explain how Ryoma became in love with Sakuno in this fanfic. I'll leave that to your imagination. I just hope you don't think it was anything sudden. Also, Sakuno's dialogue about her reasons not to say goodbye are also sort of repeated in a doujin I'm making that has nothing to do with this fic.

Check out the English translation of _Eternally_! I guarantee, it really fits the last dance scene!

Leave a compliment, comment, or constructive critique!


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